Molly

I WAS NEARLY BOUNCING on my toes with excitement. Blake was coming home today and I had something to show him. I’d watched another tutorial, but this time it was for ceiling scraping. My poor house had been stuck in the seventies with its atrocious popcorn ceilings and I’d been anxious to get it off. Not wanting to hear him grumble, I went to the hardware store after learning what I needed, and the man working gathered the tools for me.

So far, I’d managed to successfully scrape all of the edges that I could reach on my own, but today when he got here I wanted to show him another skill I’d picked up. It was a good one.

Right at five on the dot, Blake was parking his car across the street, and he didn’t even bother going inside his house before he walked over to mine. I was standing at the door grinning from ear to ear like a total fool, but I couldn’t contain myself.

His smile nearly blinded me as I squealed and gave a small hop onto his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck. My feet were dangling, but he put his massive arms around my waist and supported my weight. I kissed him openly, with passion and gratitude. I’d missed his soft lips. Plus I loved how he tasted like he’d been chewing on a piece of spearmint gum. He didn’t seem to mind my elated attitude.

When he set me down, he was still smiling. “That’s certainly a good way to come home.”

I was standing on my tippy-toes, ready to climb out of my skin if I didn’t get to show him like right now. “Yes yes… hi hi hi and all that greetings crap.” I grasped his hand and tugged him forward.

He chuckled as he moved with me into the living room. “Molly, you’re up to something. What is it?”

“Just look!” I said, motioning for him to look up.

His eyes traveled to the ceiling, and he walked into the room to get a better view. “You started this without me?”

“Yep. And I must say, I may have a future in it if book sales start to suck.”

He laughed, his neck still craned back. “Well, I have to admit, it’s pretty clean work.”

I moved to stand beside him. The plastic under my feet was crinkling. The room was filthy from all that had come off, but when it was done I’d be able to peel the tape off the edges of the plastic and roll it up and it would be like there was never a mess to begin with.

“I had no idea how easy it was going to be. If I did, I would have started with this instead of painting some of the rooms.”

He looked down at me with his piercing brown eyes. “It is easy, but your arms start to get pretty tired after a bit. And had you waited for me before you started any of the rooms, you stubborn woman, I would have said to hold off on painting if you were scraping. But it’s not a huge deal. You can just wipe down the walls and do any touch-ups later.” He moved farther into the space. “Were you waiting for me to get home so I could do the middle parts? Or would you like me to bring over my ladder so you can reach it yourself?”

I gave him a devilish grin. His own smile dropped and he knew I was up to something. “I have an itty bitty surprise for you.”

“Molly, what are you up to?”

I started to walk backward. Putting up my finger, I said, “Just wait right here. I’ll be out in a second.”

I raced off to the guest bedroom where I’d put them. Lying on the bed were a pair of stilts. I’d never seen them before, but the man at the hardware store told me the professionals used them when drywalling and painting ceilings. They looked like the bottom part of crutches, but with straps for your feet. I decided to go for it since they were fairly inexpensive, and they’d save me time to not have to shift a ladder around every couple of feet as I went along. Convenience was key right now.

Strapping the gigantic clunky things on, I stood up and stepped toward the door. I was still slightly wobbly. After I’d bought them, I knew I’d have to practice walking in them before Blake got back. I wanted to show him that I was capable of doing bigger things.

The bottoms of the stilts sounded like horse hooves on the wood floors as I moved.

“What’s that noise?” Blake’s deep voice sounded worried.

I didn’t bother answering as I rounded the hallway corner and let him see it for himself. Similar to a tap dancer, I did a small wiggle, praying like hell I didn’t fall and kill myself, and I held my arms open and said, “Ta-da!”

His smile slowly faded away, and his mouth thinned into a line. “Drywall stilts?”

I took a few steps. He moved forward to stand by me. “Yeah, isn’t it great? These things are going to save so much time. I had no idea they even existed.”

While I was insanely proud of myself, Blake just thought I was insane. “Molly, these things take time to learn how to move in. Any wrong misstep and you’re on the ground with a broken ankle or leg.”

I waved him off. “I’ve already been practicing.” I moved a little more and he shifted with me.

“Walking in them while looking at the ground isn’t the challenging part. Doing it while looking up is where you’ll lose your balance and why only professionals have these.”

“Oh, grumble grumble,” I mocked. “These suckers are awesome.” I looked upward and attempted to do what he said would be hard. One of my feet shook a little more than the other, and admittedly, peering up at the ceiling was daunting and made me feel off balance. But I wasn’t willing to cave. Instead, I changed the subject. I looked down at him and combed my fingers through his wild brown hair. “You’re short.”

He raised a brow and put his arms around my waist. “I’m six-foot-two to your barely five feet. Now get down, woman.”

I snorted. “You’re no fun.”

He helped me sit down on the plastic-covered couch that was still clean. “I’m loads of fun. In fact, I have a surprise for you.”

I perked up and looked at him expectantly. “Surprise?”

“Mhmm. Do you have your passport?”

We were both working on unstrapping the stilts from my feet. “Yes, I have one.”

“Ever been to Canada?”

I paused and blinked at him. “No.”

“Well, today’s your lucky day. We’re going to go spend two nights in Victoria. So you need to go pack your bags. But keep in mind, it’s a little farther north, and it may be slightly cooler there than it is here.”

I let loose another girly squeal. “Oh my gosh, I’m so excited!”

“We have to be ready first thing in the morning to catch the ferry out of Port Angeles.”

I put my hand on his thigh, and he placed his on either side of my face. Gently kissing my nose, I closed my eyes. “I’m glad you’re home.”

“Hmmm, me too,” he said warmly.

We stayed like that for several moments before he stood up and said he had to go to his house to pack as well. This evening had definitely turned out way better than I could have ever planned. And tomorrow was going to be incredible.

The next morning Blake and I were on our way to the ferry. It was eight in the morning, and the sun was rising behind us. I sat in the seat next to him feeling astonished that I was even here. How I managed to go from regretting buying my house because of my jerk neighbor, to now sitting with him and experiencing something new. My mind was whirling with happiness and possibilities.

“So have you ever been here?”

He glanced at me. “Nope, this will be a first.”

“You’ve lived here your whole life and you’ve never taken the ferry to Victoria? How is that even possible?”

He shrugged. “My class was supposed to go as part of our graduation trip, and my mom was going to be a chaperon. I chose not to go after she was gone.”

A sharp pain went through my chest. And at the same time I was comforted that he was okay with sharing that little bit with me. As well as choosing to even go. I considered for a brief moment if I should bring up what I’d heard at the coffee shop, but considering the reasons we were taking this trip in the first place, I thought better of it. I didn’t want to ruin the mood, and thankfully his mentioning her didn’t seem to dampen his spirits either.

I reached over and gave his leg a squeeze. “Well, I’m thrilled to go with you for the first time.”

He winked at me, and it gave me butterflies.

Loading onto the ferry was a bit interesting. I’d never seen a boat that was still afloat that looked as rough as this particular one did. For the price Blake paid to board this thing, I was surprised they hadn’t used the funding to keep it in better shape.

“Jesus, we’re not going to make it,” I said as we sat in the car down below. I got motion sick sometimes, and part of this ride we’d be in choppy open water. The lower on the boat, the less the rocking gets to you.

He turned on some soft music to try and relax my nerves. “We’re halfway across The Strait of Georgia. If the boat was going to sink, it would have done it by now.”

I frowned. “Strait of Georgia? This looks nothing like Georgia to me.”

“Hush. Your jokes are moot right now. Close your eyes and we’ll be there in less than an hour.”

I did as he instructed. He was right about the short ride. Before I knew it we were pulling up to one of the most picturesque places I’d ever seen.

The sprawling views of the city were so breathtaking that I took a moment to soak it all in. As we drove off the ferry, I was taken aback by it all. While there were tall buildings in every direction, how the city maintained and landscaped it all was what struck me. It was as if they wanted you to drive into a picture-perfect postcard.

Most of the buildings appeared to be period pieces of art. It reminded me of images I’d seen in textbooks. They looked similar to the British monarchies architecture. So many sharp peaks and flags flying proudly. The air felt crisp and oddly fresher up here. Even more so than in the natural forest I lived in.

A thrill went through me.

“So what’s first on the agenda?” I asked Blake curiously.

He hmmm’d. “Well, we could do one of two things. We can go see what most tourists head to and that’s Butchart Gardens, which is self-explanatory. Or we could do something a little more unusual and tour the bug zoo.”

I raised my brow at him. “There’s clearly one option here.”

“What’s that?”

“The bug zoo, duh.”

He chuckled. “I think I read online it’s more for children, but who knows.” He shrugged. “Maybe we can have just as much fun.”

I scoffed. “Anything you do with me is bound to be a blast.”

We were stopped at a roundabout.

“Is that right?” He nearly purred. His hand brushed down my cheek and drifted till he stroked the side of my breast. My nipples hardened, and instant desire shot through me.

Should I feel pathetic that he could turn me on so quickly?

“That’s right.” I cleared my throat. “Now to the bugs!” I attempted to ignore him.

His brown eyes were entertained. “To the bugs!” he repeated.

It was a lot smaller than what I’d anticipated. Two rooms and nothing but bug displays. There was an eight-by-ten live butterfly room, but I didn’t want to go inside. Crawly things in general creeped me out, but I thought we’d be seeing live ones behind glass cases. Having one land on me, no matter how docile, would make me panic and I’d probably kill it. In which case, I’m sure they’d kick us out. Blake thought I was ridiculous. His usual mocking and teasing went on for about five minutes, and it was nice to have the banter. Before we left, I bought a kids puzzle that was full of rainbow-colored bugs. I had no idea what I’d use it for, but it was something fun to have.

After leaving there, we stopped at a restaurant to have lunch. We sat and chatted about the next few things that needed to get done in my house, and he griped about his second office in Tacoma needing new management. It was about time we could check in to our hotel room. I was relieved when we went up to see there were actually two separate rooms with king-sized beds. It’s not that I wouldn’t mind sharing with Blake, or even that I knew we’d wind up in the same one anyway. But having the option of my own space and no pressures associated with this trip was nice.

While we’d definitely grown closer, I needed to acknowledge that jumping head first into this relationship, I needed to take heed. I wanted to make sure we were compatible outside of painters tape, and hammers. Blake and I were exceptionally good at arguing, and we were even better in bed. But was there anything more than sex and tools here? When my house was complete, would he still continue to come over and pursue me?

We walked several blocks and looked in store-front windows after getting settled. I shopped around and made a few purchases. A few hours later it was getting late and I was very tired. Blake said we could order room service and watch a movie, or whatever I felt like doing.

That first night, we fell asleep in his bed with Animal Planet on. I woke to him kissing down my naval and removing my pants. He made me come twice before penetrating me, to which I came again. Who knew sex could be like this?

The three other men I’d had sex with had never been able to make me feel like he had. It was ‘I take off my clothes, they removed theirs. We’d get in bed and it was all sterile.’ With Blake, it felt primal and full of need. I couldn’t breathe him in fast enough. He was like top-shelf liquor you don’t waste a single drop of. You consume it and let it roll around on your tongue. He was extremely good at reading me. Which was almost as equally terrifying as what was happening between us. I knew it wasn’t just me feeling things. I may not be able to pick up on all his cues, but there was no mistaking the subtle times I’d catch him out of the corner of my eye smiling at me or visually taking me in.

The second day of our trip went by incredibly fast. We toured the gardens and rented bicycles. The people in Victoria were extremely health conscious and rode around everywhere. I’d wanted a burger for dinner that night, but there wasn’t a single place that made them. Even their menus were healthy. In forty-eight hours I’d managed to fall in love with my little postcard world, but I was ready to get back home and try to wrap up incomplete projects and finish my novel.

Back on the Washington side, it was nice being surrounded by the trees and pine smelling air. I’d napped while on the boat, and I think my silence made Blake go a stir-crazy. He interrupted my thoughts when he started speaking.

“We are going to play a little game. Well, maybe not really a game, but more of a way to get to know each other. You down?”

I tapped my chin. “Hmmm, I suppose so. This isn’t like confessions or anything, is it? I’m not sure how deep you want to go. Some things may make you run for the hills.”

He cracked the window. Something he usually did when he drove. “As long as you don’t have a criminal record like killing your previous neighbors, there’s not much that would shock me.”

I shoved him with my hand. “Whatever.”

“Let’s get started. What are some of your ultimate favorite things? Not like candy or food. I want something that causes nostalgia. Could be a place, item, or anything really.”

“Busting out the big boy words.”

He chuckled.

“I never would have pegged you as the sentimental type.”

Lacing his fingers with mine, he said, “I’m not.” Warmth spread through my belly, with his touch.

I hmm’d. “I disagree there. Most men don’t think about memories like women do.”

Kissing the back of my hand, he said, “Would you shut up and answer the question?”

I nibbled on my lip and pondered it. “I don’t know. I guess I’d say I love the smell of fresh cut grass.”

He smirked. “Really… lawn?”

I frowned. “Yes. It’s like my first telltale sign that warm weather is on the horizon. It was my favorite thing as a kid. That’s when you knew summer break was around the corner.” I glared over at him. “I’m not answering anymore.”

He briefly took his eyes off the road and tugged me toward him. He kissed my lips ever so tenderly. “That was only the first question, and I’m teasing.” He sat back up. “That was a good one, by the way.”

“Forgiven.” My heart melted a little. “Okay, your turn.”

“Rain hitting a tin roof,” he responded right away.

It was currently drizzling outside but not enough for the wiper blades to be on low speed. So every time they went across the windshield, they groaned. Nor was it enough to roll the window up.

Jerking my head back, I was a little surprised. “You took no time to think about that.”

“Because I didn’t have to. My dad used to bring all of us to a cabin on Mount Baker. It had a bright green metal roof and when rain hit it, it would lull me to sleep. I haven’t been to that cabin since I was seven.”

I was really enjoying he was sharing openly like this. “So do you have any more?”

“Mhmm. So give me another one.”

I pondered it for a moment. “A warm towel out of the dryer. But only when it’s been tumbling with a dryer sheet, and you just get out of the tub during the middle of winter and the house is a little cold.”

He smiled but refrained from chuckling, which was what he wanted to do. Sitting here looking at him, his profile was perfect. If this man ever had kids, someone help the world because two Blake Whitmores running around was trouble.

“The sounds of snow falling.”

“Oh, good one.” I verbally high-fived him. “Especially up in the mountains and it’s totally still. Living in Boston I recall asking someone that once, if they could hear the snow falling. They looked at me like I was crazy. But in the city, they can’t.”

“They don’t know what they’re missing.” He winked.

We’d both said two and I felt warm and perfect. This moment was perfect. He was perfect. Life was good, and I didn’t know this kind of euphoria existed.

If life were a physical person and it were sitting next to me in this car, it heard my thoughts. And as if telling me I didn’t deserve it, or I hadn’t worked hard enough to feel this kind of happiness, it chose to turn me upside down. One second I was looking at Blake and admiring how beautiful everything was, and the next, it was filled with pain.

Blake saw the car cross the median. And I believe he did everything in his power to make sure my side didn’t take the brunt of the hit. I screamed and that was all I remembered before I was knocked out.